Executive Chef Robin Song is at the helm of Gibson, a contemporary American restaurant located in the Hotel Bijou whose menu is driven by live fire and the seasonal bounty of Northern California. A Los Angeles native, Song is an award-winning chef who has honed his skills over the past 20 years in some of Northern California’s most celebrated restaurants. With the launch of Gibson, Song aims to bring a vibrant and approachable dining experience to San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood.
Song’s introduction to the culinary industry began with a kitchen job he took while studying media arts. It was there he discovered his passion for the structure and rigor of the restaurant world and the creativity of cooking. He began his career at Bay Wolf in Oakland under the tutelage of Nathan Peterson and Louis LeGassic, where he learned the art of whole animal butchery and the importance of food history. Since then, Chef Song has worked in esteemed kitchens including Plum, Ame, Central Kitchen, Relae in Copenhagen and Belgium’s In de Wulf. Most recently, Song served as chef de cuisine at Mission District favorite Hog & Rocks, where he earned the honor of being name of the San Francisco Chronicle’s “Rising Star Chefs.” Aiming to explore his ethnic heritage through cooking, he also established a successful weekly late-night Korean pop-up called Junju, which was influenced by traditional Koren barbecue and the seasonality of California cuisine.
A commitment to local purveyors, utilizing ingredients available in the Bay Area and cooking with live fire had become mainstays for Song’s cuisine, but he was continually looking for a way to bring back the elegance of fine dining without the pretention of the traditional experience. When Song was approached about Gibson, he knew it was the perfect location to give guests an incredible experience at a value that is almost unheard of in the Bay Area. Song is excited to bring the fun back to fine dining while highlighting the seasonality of Northern California and introducing a new dining experience to San Francisco.